Kenya received a further 180,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday, even as the number of those who have been vaccinated surpass 1.7 million.
In a statement, the Ministry of Health says the addition will serve as a boost to the ongoing vaccination efforts amid increased Covid-19 cases across the country.
So far, a total of 209, 823 cases have been reported Kenya.
The latest consignment, which was a donation from the Greek government, pushes the number of vaccines received in the country to 2,323,100.
Speaking at JKIA after receiving the consignment, National Taskforce on Vaccine Deployment Chair Dr. Willis Akhwale said the donation was a welcome boost to the ongoing vaccination exercise.
Akhwale said the government expects to have vaccinated 10 million people by the end of this year.
At the same time, Deputy Head of mission at the Embassy of Greece in Kenya Counsellor Sotirios Demestichas, said the donation was a demonstration of the cordial relations between Kenya and Greece.
EU deputy head of delegation Katrin Susanna HAGEMANN was among those who attended the ceremony.
As of August 5th, 2021, a total of 1,768,519 vaccines had been administered across the country with total first doses standing at 1,084,013 while 684,506 second doses had been administered.
The proportion of adults fully vaccinated in the country stood at 2.5 percent by close of Friday.
The first vaccination began on 5th March 2021 with county vaccinations kicking off on 8th of March 2021. The second dose vaccination began on 28th May 2021. The government is conducting the vaccination free of charge.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has indicated that more vaccine doses will be arriving in the country to boost the ongoing vaccination campaign.
Kenya receives AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine Donation from UK
The roll out of the national vaccination campaign is being led by the Ministry of Health, with support from WHO, UNICEF, Gavi and other partners.
The Government of Kenya is currently prioritizing second doses for health workers, teachers, other essential workers and people aged over 58.
This comes barely a week after Kenya received an additional 410,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in yet another boost to ongoing efforts to vaccinate its adult population.
The consignment was the first batch of the 817,000 doses for Kenya from the United Kingdom, with a further donation of 407,000 doses expected later in the country via the COVAX facility.
The Covax facility has also allocated Kenya 407,040 doses of AstraZeneca and 271,440 doses of Pfizer.
This besides the 13 million doses of Johnson and Johnson, procured by the government through the AVAT-AU mechanism, whose delivery will start next month.
The roll out of the national vaccination campaign is being led by the Ministry of Health, with support from WHO, UNICEF, Gavi and other partners.
The Government of Kenya is currently prioritizing second doses for health workers, teachers, other essential workers and people aged over 58.
Data by the Ministry of Health indicates that a total of 1,075,808 doses of the first dose of the vaccine have been administered, while a total of 674,452 of the second dose have been given.
The Ministry also reveals that the second dose uptake now stands at 62.7 percent, with the proportion of adults that is fully vaccinated being 2.5 percent.
Delta Variant
According to the World Health Organization, coronavirus deaths in Africa climbed by 80 percent in the four weeks to July 30th.
The Organization says much of this increase is being driven by the highly-transmissible Delta variant, which has now been detected in at least 132 countries.
WHO has warned that the COVID-19 virus has been changing since it was first reported, and it continues to change.
So far, four variants of concern have emerged, and there will be more as long as the virus continues to spread.
